Tornadoes · United States · Nebraska · 2009

EF0 tornado, Stapleton, Nebraska, June 23, 2009

This EF0 tornado ran 3.0 miles across Logan County on June 23, 2009, touching down at 7:07 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 23, 2009
Touchdown
7:07 PM CDT (00:07 UTC)
Lifted
7:12 PM CDT (00:12 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
3.0 miles (4.8 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Logan County
Touchdown point
41.600, -100.587
Lift-off point
41.560, -100.564
Record number
0906231807-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An isolated tornadic supercell developed early in the evening over western Nebraska which also produced flash flooding as it moved slowly southeast. Scattered storms developed by late evening in the eastern Panhandle that produced strong winds.

Trained spotters from the volunteer fire department saw the tornado as it moved across open rangeland.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

2 minutes of warning. NWS LBF issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:05 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:37 UTC and running to 06:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
06:38 UTC11:16 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLBF
23:17 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBF
23:37 UTC06:00 UTCTornado WatchLBF
00:05 UTC00:45 UTCTornado WarningLBF
00:43 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningLBF
01:25 UTC02:15 UTCTornado WarningLBF
02:44 UTC05:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningLBF

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:45 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), 00:00Z

0.1 hours before the tornado, 50 km from the path. June 24, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2009-06-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1357 joules per kilogram, CIN -14, lifted condensation level 2268 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2009-06-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 27 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1357 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2883 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2268 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
8.3
0-3 km lapse rate
8.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), 12:00Z

11.9 hours after it, 50 km from the path. June 24, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2009-06-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3 joules per kilogram, CIN -549, lifted condensation level 1615 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2009-06-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-549 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
319 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Thedford (TIF), 42 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
22:10 UTC8669.870° 11 kt1014.2
22:30 UTC82.469.870° 8 kt1013.9-VCTSRA
22:50 UTC78.871.670° 4 kt1013.5+VCTSRA
23:10 UTC7771.6220° 11 kt1014.6+TSRA
23:30 UTC73.464.40° 0 kt1013.9TSRA
23:50 UTC69.864.4350° 7 kt1013.5TS
00:10 UTC78.871.670° 9 kt1013.9TS
00:30 UTC78.871.670° 11 kt1014.6
00:50 UTC78.869.8140° 11 kt1014.9
01:10 UTC78.864.4160° 4 kt1015.2VCTS
01:30 UTC73.462.6290° 4 kt1015.9
01:50 UTC71.662.60° 0 kt1015.6

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:06 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
23:46 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD6 Se TryonMcpherson, NE
00:11 UTCTORNADO11 N StapletonLogan, NEFIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED A TORNADO 11 MILES NORTH OF STAPLETON.
00:42 UTCTORNADO6 N StapletonLogan, NESTAPLETON FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED A TORNADO.
00:48 UTCTORNADO8 Ne GandyLogan, NEFIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED THE TORNADO WAS 1/4 MILE WIDE.
00:52 UTCTORNADO5 Ne GandyLogan, NETHE TORNADO WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 1/2 MILE WIDE.
01:03 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD4 W ArnoldLogan, NE
01:11 UTCTORNADO9 Ese StapletonLogan, NE
01:54 UTCTORNADO7 S ArnoldCuster, NEPUBLIC REPORT OF A TORNADO ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTH OF ARNOLD.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in NebraskaEvery tornado in Nebraska since 1950Warnings in force in Nebraska nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 23, 2009

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 234:45 PM EDTEF0Citrus, FL0.550$250,000
June 235:15 PM EDTEF0Franklin, FL0.625$5,000
June 234:58 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO0.150
June 238:09 PM CDTEF0Rock, WI0.830$8,000
June 238:54 PM CDTEF0Custer, NE0.130
June 238:07 PM MDTEF0Logan, CO0.150
June 2312:25 AM EDTEF1Sarasota, FL0.6100$350,000

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.